Baby Bear and the Ark

Mom: What's going on back here, Jamey?

Me: Baby Bear was on the ark but he did not listen and obey so they had to throw him off into the dump truck.

Mom: Oh, kind of like Jonah and the whale?

Me: No, Mom, it's totally different.

Before and After

Here's what our flower bed looked like before we had dinner last night. Yesterday afternoon turned into a nice, spring-like day.

And here's what our flower bed looked like after we woke up this morning. We didn't know snow was coming!

Doesn't the white snow look pretty against our daffodils and crocus?

Scissors

Mom is really trying focus on small motor skills these days.
Today's project was cutting with scissors.
First I cut with my left hand...

...and then I switched to my right.
I do just as well with either hand.

Perhaps you are wondering what Jack was doing while I was using my scissors?
He was climbing up on the table and the kitchen counters.
Oh, how that monkey can climb!

It was driving me CrAzY!!!
It's hard to concentrate when someone keeps climbing into your space!
Sheesh!!!

Date Night

Tonight Mom and Dad went out for Thai food while Jack and I played with one of our babysitters. Date Night is a win-win at our house. Mom and Dad get to have uninterrupted conversation, and Jack and I get to play with a person who's only job is to build us tracks for our trains.

Here's a goofy picture of Mom (yes, we know it's an unflattering photo) and Dad out on the town. Why do people take pictures of themselves? Silly, silly, silly if you ask me!

Just around the corner?

We think spring might be just around the corner in our neck of the world. This afternoon we took a walk downtown, and while we were enjoying being outside on a beautiful day, we noticed lots of robins making nests and daffodil leaves poking their way up in the dead leaves. Could it be that spring is FINALLY on its way? We sure hope so.

We hadn't noticed any spring growth at home the other day when we were out, but we decided we'd better check again. Here's what we found:

Yippee!!!

And here's Jack eating his dinner. Jack doesn't eat much at breakfast and lunch, but he chows down at dinner!

Mom's sweet & sour chicken was especially yummy tonight! It was enjoyed by all!

After dinner Dad helped us make a huge traintrack...

...and Mom helped us hang some shamrocks in the windows.

There are lots of St. Patrick's Day preparations going on around here! I wonder what's the next green project on Mom's list?

Missing Packages

We've come to realize that we did not receive two Christmas packages (both mailed near the end of December) that people were kind enough to mail to us. We're not sure why this happened. We've asked the post office to look into the situation.

So...if you happened to have sent us a package and we never acknowledged it either by thank you note or by email, then chances are we never received it.

We've had lots of problems with our postal carrier in the past, but missing packages top the list! Mom thinks the post office should take advantage of the fact that so many people are out of work and looking for new jobs by letting our current carrier go and hiring someone who can actually do the job. Of course, the post office has yet to ask for Mom's help in solving any of our issues. If only they would...

Scooping Beans

Yesterday and this morning, I've spent quite a bit of time scooping up beans with my work trucks.

Jack has been scooping, too. He's not allowed to scoop beans, though, because he...

...EATS them.
Mom says, for now, Jack has to stick with cereal.

In case you were wondering...

...because I'm sure you're dying to know.

My stomach is still healing. We know this because its contents came out once again this evening on our way into church. We turned right around and went home.

Since I seem to be able to go 48 hours between incidents, my parents feel they are safe to move about town until sometime Monday evening. At that point they will put me on a chair and drape me with towels holding a bowl under my chin.

Unless my tummy heals before then. Mom and Dad are praying it does.

Seriously. My parents say parenting is not for the weak. It takes stamina. Lots and lots of stamina...

Happy Birthday Great-Pas!

Mom asked me what I wanted to do this afternoon. She thought I'd pick doing something out of our house since we got the okay to leave this morning. Not me! I picked cooking!

Since today is Great-Pas birthday, Mom said we should make some zucchini brownies in his honor.
Well, and because cousin Laura emailed us to ask if we would send her the recipe, and just thinking about those yummy brownies made us hungry for them!

Batter stirred, I licked half the beater clean and passed it off to...

...Jackie-boy.

Into the oven they went and were ready just as we were finishing up dinner. They were so warm and gooey out of the oven.

Tasty!!!

Happy Birthday Great-Pas. We hope you had a good birthday!

What the doctor said...

Dad did indeed get home very late last night (okay, it was really more like early this morning). Mom was very glad to see him and thankful he was willing to drive most of the night to be here.

First thing this morning we headed to the doctors' office. Originally the appointment was just for Jack's 18-month, well-baby appointment, but Mom requested that the doctor give me a once over, too.

Dr. Robinson said that while I did have the stomach flu last weekend, I'm no longer contagious (and haven't been for a while now). He said some tummies just take a while to adjust back to normal life again after being sick. He checked my ears, nose, throat, and stomach and they all check out great! Dr. Robinson said for Mom and Dad to keep following my lead regarding what to eat and when to eat. It's fine for me to be around friends and to leave the house. Mom feels like it was silly to take me to the doctor only to learn I'm fine and have extraordinary gagging reflexes and a slow-healing tummy. Dad says we gained peace of mind by going.

As for Jack... Our baby finally passed the 20 pound mark! Yippee!!! Jack now weighs a whopping 22 pounds which puts him in the 5% for weight. He measures 30 inches long putting him between the 5% and 10% in height. Developmentally Jack is right on track and is doing great. The nurse said Jack is one of very few kids who has never been sick beyond a runny nose. She congratulated him on his "stomach of steel". "May it always stay that way," muttered Mom under her breath.

So, to sum up our morning, on the one hand, my parents feel better about knowing I'm fine. And on the other hand, my parents will continue living in fear that perhaps, just maybe, my stomach isn't quite back to normal.

Started Good, Ended Badly

We'll start with the good stuff.

Painting was fun. I painted with my right hand today. I go back and forth between hands, and I'm just as good with each of them.

After naptime Mom got a wild idea and decided to cut our hair. Why she thought this was a good idea? We have no idea. You see, our Mom knows NOTHING about cutting hair. She started off with the scissors trying to give us traditional haircuts. Before too long, it became apparent that the clippers and a buzz-cut were the only hope for the three of us not being embarrassed to go out in public.

In the end, there was very little hair on our heads, lots of hair all over the bathroom, lots of water from Jack splashing all over the bathroom, and me sobbing in the shower because I had hair in my mouth. It really was pretty funny, and Mom was laughing pretty hard while she was cleaning up the mess.

Thinking maybe a treat would help us feel better after the hair debacle, Mom made us apple juice slushies. Even though I had "kept everything down" for almost 48 hours, Mom wasn't taking any chances by giving us a more exciting treat!

Do you like my haircut?

How about Jack's new do? Mom, who doesn't even like buzz cuts, says she thinks Jack might be made for this kind of hairstyle. She thinks our baby is extra cute with no hair!

Slushies finished, it HAPPENED AGAIN. This time, after being "well" for 46 hours, I tossed my cookies all over the kitchen floor AND Norah who happened to be sitting under my chair hoping for a falling slushy drop.

Mommy was very brave and refrained from crying until after I was in bed. Dad was scheduled to be gone all night on a trip, but he's coming home earlier than planned. He'll be home late but just in time to help Mom take me to the doctors' in the morning.

Oh my... I guess we'll get that washing machine going for another load or two...

Sickness Food

A pre-dinner conversation...

Mom: What would you like for dinner, Jamey? A rice cake, some applesauce, or a rice cake and some applesauce.

Me: I do not want anymore sickness food! I want real food!

Mom: And I don't ever want to do laundry ever again! We all have our dreams, kiddo...

Recovering...AGAIN...

After the stomach flu reared it's ugly head again last night (so far, just me), we canceled our Bible study responsibilities for this morning. I was sad about missing my class. "Don't you want me to learn about Jesus?," I cried. Mom assured me that she did, so we read a few Bible stories and worked on my memory verses here at home.

Next up Mom decided she needed to have a little room-time for herself. Something about fixing her hair and changing her attitude. While Mom pulled herself together for yet another day at home, Jack and I watched Sesame Street. Yippee!!! The word on the street for today was "windy". "I like windy," I told Mom. "There are french fries at windy." It took Mom a few minutes to remember that one time when we were traveling to a grandma's house, we stopped at Wendy's for a french fry snack. Mid-way through Sesame Street, I realized they were talking about wind and not fries.

I was still thinking about wind and weather when Mom appeared with her hair fixed and attitude changed. She asked us what we wanted to do. "Play a weather game," I replied. We don't have a weather game, but Mom said surely we could come up with something.

We cut up some paper into cards, and then drew pictures depicting weather items on each one. Then Mom drew the same pictures on a second set of cards, so we could play a homemade version of weather Memory. It was fun! Even Jack played.

Weather game finished, we moved on to CandyLand.
CandyLand did not go quite as smooth as the weather Memory game had gone...

...Mom kept getting all the double blues and the gingerbread cards. I got really mad. I threw all the cards on the floor. It wasn't good. Mom did pretty good cutting me a little slack as I don't feel well.

We decided we should probably put CandyLand away before things got too out of hand.

Recovering for the second time around is tons less fun than recovering for the first time. We're starting to get a bit stir crazy around here. Mom says she's pretty close to packing up Jack and me and taking us to a grandma's house! And, I think that's a great idea!!! Especially because a grandma would probably agree to stack the CandyLand card deck so I could get ALL of the double blues!

And it's back...

Yep, apparently the stomach flu just took a break. Then it came back to visit me tonight worse than ever! Oh my, more laundry...

Dinosaur Jungle

Well...things are much better around here. We're still not very hungry and feeling weak, but our tummies are feeling just fine! Best of all, Jack is still healthy!

The priority for today was scrubbing all the germs away, but we managed to get in some playtime here and there.

Here's my dinosaur jungle. "Let's make a dinosaur jungle of bricks," I told Mom, "There are lots of bricks in the jungle." We used Jack's blocks as the bricks. I think my dinos really liked the jungle I (with Mom's help) built for them.

You'll notice the big t-rexy (yes, I call him t-rexy) is standing on a brick stool so he doesn't have to bend his neck to eat the leaves.

I'm glad we're feeling better around here! We hope none of you get the 2009 version of the stomach flu. It's terrible!

Three down, one to go...

Yep, you read that right. I shared my "bug" with Dad and then Mom. I'm trying really hard not to share with Jack.

It's been an adventure.

Mom was counting up the laundry loads. Until she got to 8. Then she decided to stop. She was afraid a deep, dark depression might set in if she continued to be fully aware of reality.

If you think of it, we'd appreciate prayer that the stomach flu stays away from Jack.

Over and out...

Oh my...

Well...it wasn't excitement in my tummy. Rather it was the stomach flu. And while Mom has lots of things to say about the stomach flu, she doesn't think you want to read about it here. So, she's going to keep working on the laundry created by the stomach flu, and we'll be back when there's something to report other than gross. Oh my...

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope you had a nice Valentine's Day. Our day started off fun. Mom had some presents for us to open. Jack and I each got a new Valentine's book. We were hoping Mom would read them to us, but instead she climbed back into bed and fell asleep.

For a very long time.

After the very long time, we were quite hungry. We woke Mom up so she could make us some lunch. Just kidding! Dad didn't mean to wake her up; it was an accident. After lunch we all (even Mom) took naps before heading over to Oliver's to play.

Church came next! Mom had Jack and I dressed super cute in our new red shirts from Great-Mom-mom. We were a little bit late, so there wasn't time for a picture. "Not to worry," thought Mom, "I'll just snap one after church." Let's just say the after church picture never happened because I tossed my cookies (so to speak) all over the floor in my class! Oh my! It was a little bit of an adventure!

Needless to say we have no Valentine's picture to show you. We'll have to remember to stage one later this week. Regardless, we hope you had a wonderful day full of love and chocolates and flowers! As for me, I'm sleeping with a big blue bowl tonight. Lucky for Mom that she got two naps today. It might be a long night...

A Special Gift

In the midst of our sadness, we managed to have a bit of fun delivering a few Valentine's. One of our stops was up in Dad's office to give Dad's co-worker Eric a Valentine's Card.

I wasn't expecting the surprise Eric had for me! Eric golfs with his left hand just like me, and he brought me one of his left handed putters for me to practice with! Yep, a REAL golf club just for me!

Dad is going to have it cut down so it will be just the perfect size for me! Thank you, thank you, Eric for the fun surprise!

Kodi

Today was a little bit of a sad day for us. Grandma Lou and Grandpa Jere's dog Kodi fell asleep forever today. Kodi had a great life roaming Grandma Lou and Grandpa Jere's hill. Kodi liked pizza and snow. But I think Kodi's most favorite thing was licking Grandpa Jere's ice cream bowl clean! Kodi will be missed, but we are thankful for her long, happy life.

(Picture taken December 2006)

My other grandma had sad news for us today as well. Grandma Carolyn's good friend Debbie went to live with Jesus this morning. We are sad for Debbie's children and for us, but we are happy that Debbie's cancer is gone and that she is dancing with Jesus! We know we'll see her again one day, and we can't wait!

It's hard for me to understand these kinds of things, but Mom and Dad do their best to explain. Sometimes I get confused and have to ask lots of clarification questions. Days like today are hard to process since I'm only three...

In the mail...

We have received lots of fun Valentines! Thanks to all of you who have sent us a card.

Below is the Valentine Mom got most excited about. It was a package from Great-Mom-mom with matching red shirts for Jack and me to wear on heart day. Yippee!!!

And this is the card Jack and I are most excited about. It's from our friend Mia. Her family is in our community group. The card she sent us glows in the dark. We spent a good chunk of time in the dark bathroom this morning admiring the masterpiece. Mom tried to take a picture, but she couldn't remember how to turn the flash off and didn't want to find the owner's manual. L-A-Z-Y if you ask me! Sheesh!!! I guess you'll have to use your imagination to imagine all the glowing.

Only three more days until Valentine's Day!

Worms

Last night we had lots of thunderstorms and lightning. Most of the time I'm very brave, but not last night. Instead of being brave, I talked myself into Mom and Dad's bed. Mom says that's never going to happen again. She said I'm very wiggly.

Anyway, this morning I found something fun had happened during the storm. That's right--worms! "Worms slithered up the driveway," I told Mom as we were heading out for Wednesday morning Bible Study.

When we finished up and headed home, those worms were still there waiting for me. I crouched down and talked to them while they slithered to find another puddle somewhere else.

Professional Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Mom and Dad hauled us off to a professional photography studio. The goal was to get some cute pictures of Jack and me together. We have lots of fun, candid shots, but we have very few good pictures of us looking at the camera at the same time with a decent background.

They tried. They really did give it their best effort. They got a few cute pictures. Mom was pretty happy, but someday Mom wants to be really happy with pictures of her boys together. Maybe when we're six and four... Mom's not holding her breath.

Four Molars and a Hat

Yesterday afternoon Jack was kind of a grouch! Mom couldn't figure out what was going on. At bathtime she thought she caught a new sparkle of white in Jack's mouth, so she risked a bite and went on a new tooth hunt. It turns out Jack popped through ALL four of his one-year-old molars yesterday. Mom didn't see it coming because she thought one had to have all the front teeth in before molars poked their way in. We now surmise that's not always the case.

After realizing that Jack wasn't just grouchy but rather in pain, Mom felt sorry for her baby. So sorry, in fact, that she told Jack he could do whatever he wanted until bedtime. When presented with the world of choices, Jack chose to wear a hat.

Yes, you read that right. Me, heck, I'd choose a piece of chocolate. Not Jack. He's all about the accessories.

He wandered around the house wearing his hat until Mom said it was time for all kids and teeth to hit the mattresses. Poor little Jackie-boy. We're glad those pesky things are in and we have our happy guy back!

The sprouts are finished!

Today is the day our sprouts are ready to eat! We gave them their final rinse and put them in our lunch sandwiches.

The sandwiches were extra yummy with our freshly grown sprouts inside them. (On Sundays we watch sports with Dad while we eat our lunch in the living room. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off the qualifying rounds for racing.)

Jack likes his sandwich best taken apart. He also prefers to stuff his mouth with food before chewing and swallowing. (It seems my little brother likes racing, too.)

Next, we're going to sprout some broccoli seeds.

A Treasure Hunt

Yesterday's forecast said we would be having another beautiful day, so Mom had planned a special activity for us. After the whales were measured and breakfast was eaten, we headed out for a treasure hunt!

The other day Mom painted the insides of two egg cartons with lots of different colors. The idea was that Jack and I could wander around our local walking trails and find treasures from nature in the same colors painted in our egg cartons where they could live for safe keeping.

"Hunting eyes" on, we were ready! Jack wasn't exactly sure what to do, so I had to be an example.

This is my "colored box" as it was starting to fill up! Here's what I found for some of my colors: white-a goose feather and rock; brown-a seed pod and tiny stick; purple-a dried up pansy; red-a bottle cap; orange-a leaf and piece of caution tape; and yellow-a seed pod.

Since we were almost there anyway, we headed to the cafe for a pick-me-up snack. Travis was playing the banjo, so I sat right down and listened. Then I danced a little bit while Travis played and sang a song about children. It was especially nice to hear the banjo because earlier in the week, Mom and I had been making a chart to show how many strings different stringed instruments have. (FYI-the banjo has five!)

Jack wanted to be outside, so he sat with Dad and/or Mom and Norah while I was inside listening to the music.

We ended up having a great Saturday morning!